Chapter 17 Kaspar #2
He knew. He knew we were running out of power.
And there was nowhere out in the desert to recharge a fluxstone. No one around who could do it.
No one but me.
And I couldn’t. I couldn’t let them find out what I was.
Max, I… I could maybe tell him. No, I knew I could. I knew I could trust him. But everyone else? No.
Viper? Absolutely not.
Oh goddesses, what were we going to do?
We’d never make it to Asteris with only this much power. Hellfire, we’d be lucky to make it around this damn storm before we were completely drained.
But… unfortunately, we actually had bigger problems to worry about right now.
I turned toward the storm that was quickly getting closer and closer.
Mermaid fins and fairy wings, we needed to speed this ship up. Getting caught in that thing was a death sentence.
I could worry about the fluxstones once we were clear of this threat.
Looking over my shoulder, I said to both Max and Ariella, “Be careful,” then I ran back over to Greybeard so he could put me to work.
Between the wind, rain, and sand, I could barely see a thing, but I kept at it.
I did what I could, pulling this or that, moving the boom, and helping people back onto the ship when they went flying off—unfortunately, that happened four more times.
It was hectic and chaotic, but there was actually a method to the pirates’ chaos, and I could see our progress.
Just a little farther, just a little more drive, and we’d be clear and safe. We could do it.
I pushed myself even harder, using every ounce of energy I had. We could do this.
We could save ourselves.
We could.
Up ahead, I saw a break in the clouds, and a few of the crew cheered, people pointing, everyone putting in even more effort now that the end was in sight.
Finally, finally, the bow soared through the clearing, and the rest of The Black Wraith followed until the stern was through the raging storm. A breath of relief fell from my lungs as I took in the white clouds ahead of us.
Turning back, I grimaced at the massive bundle of dark clouds, swirling around in the heavy wind, lightning making the storm seem alive with flashes of energy.
As I watched, the storm seemed to move in the opposite direction.
Finally, we were past it, and it didn’t look like it’d be following us—thank the goddesses.
The wind was still a force of its own, and the rain still came down, but it was more of a drizzle than the pelting drops it’d been moments ago. Everyone seemed to sigh in relief as we put ten, then twenty, then fifty, then a hundred feet between us and the behemoth of a storm.
I wanted to throw my arms up and cheer, but I was too exhausted.
I was ready for bed despite it being late afternoon, but I pressed on with the rest of the crew.
The danger was gone—for now—but the work wasn’t even close to being finished for the day.
I had hours to go before I could crash in my hammock.
That hammock was calling my name, though. Holy phoenix tails, I was sore. And so, so tired.
Movement on the quarterdeck caught my eye, and I watched Max follow Viper and Mad Murray into the captain’s quarters. I had a feeling I knew exactly what that meeting was about.
As I yawned, the fluxstones in the engine room called to me again. Even the empty one wanted my attention. Every time I moved a step farther away from them, my chest ached further—it felt as empty as the fluxstones were. But there was nothing I could do.
We had to be close to Asteris, right? We could make it… right? There was no way they would’ve run this route without enough power to get us to our destination. No way.
Half an hour later, I knew I was wrong and we were in trouble.
Max walked out of the captain’s quarters with Viper and Murray behind him, and when he met my eyes, I knew, I just knew, we were out of time. Out of power.
Max’s voice boomed out from the aft quarterdeck, standing in front of the wheel, “Listen up!” Once everyone quieted, he continued.
“The storm threw us off course by at least a day or two.” People groaned.
“I know, it sucks, but that’s not the worst of it.
” He took a deep breath, and when his eyes met mine, I could see so much regret in his gaze.
“Our engine fluxstones aren’t going to make it. ”
No one spoke for a long moment, as if the entire ship was holding its breath.
Then Moonie called out, “What does that mean exactly? Do we have enough to make it to Gearhart?”
Max ran his gaze over the crew, looking at each and every one before he shook his head. “No, we don’t. We’re going to have to land.”
“In the Othana Desert?” someone called out, sounding terrified.
“We can’t land here!” another crew member yelled.
“We’ll be eaten!”
“Have ya lost yer mind? Othana’s a death trap. No one crosses the desert. Ever.”
“Oh goddesses, we’re all gonna die.”
“We have to do something. We need to… I don’t know what, but we need to do something. We can’t land. Fuck, we can’t land.”
“Is there nothing at all we can do, Captain?”
Everyone was freaking out and yelling over top of each other, screaming at Max, and asking Viper what the plan was.
Max tried to calm people down, and all Viper did was stand there and glare.
He didn’t even open his mouth. As horrible as that was, I was almost grateful because he looked angrier than I’d ever seen him.
If these people didn’t shut their traps, Viper was going to lose it and start throwing people to the sand serpents.
I shuddered at the thought.
“We’re gonna die.”
“No one survives walking the desert. Not a single person. Ever.”
“We have to do something!”
“Calm down!” Max yelled. “Calm down, everyone. We need to plan. We’re going to have to hunker down inside the ship and wait for another ship to pass by, or…” He took a breath. “Or we need to make it to Asteris on foot.”
“We’re all gonna die,” Bones muttered over and over again.
“Walk? We’ll never make it.” Patty groaned, looking more terrified now than she had when she’d gone flying overboard.
“Stayin’ll get us killed too,” Greybeard said, running a hand down his face and long, grey beard.
Willy murmured from beside me, “Sand monsters are gonna eat good tonight.”
Someone in the back wailed, “I don’t wanna become sand monster food.”
I took in the faces of my fellow crew members, looking at each one in turn.
In the time I’d been with them, I’d seen them attack merchant ships, face down Imperial ships, take on a dangerous storm, dodge Viper and his moods, and so many other things.
They were all braver than anyone I knew.
They were unafraid of any challenge…until now.
I’d never seen them look this scared and dejected before.
Seeing the terror, the horror, on their faces made my heart pound hard against my ribcage.
Was the desert really that bad?
I’d heard the stories—so many stories—but I always thought they were embellished. I didn’t think they were real, but… but the way everyone was acting made me think they were.
Holy. Phoenix. Tails.
I cringed as all the tales of sand serpents, fire-breathing raptors, and sand krakens floated through my mind’s eye.
The monsters of the desert were huge and very unforgiving.
The sand serpents were the most common, and I, in no way, shape, or form, wanted to ever meet or even see one.
The pictures I’d seen in books and articles were bad enough. They’d given me nightmares as a kid.
Not to mention that there was literally nowhere to hide from a sand monster.
They could hear and feel the vibrations from any creature’s movements and simply pop up directly under them with unerring accuracy and open jaws.
And since humans couldn’t see through the sand or feel and hear vibrations the same way, they’d never even see it coming.
One minute, they were walking peacefully over the land, the next, they’re being swallowed down by a terrifying beast.
Could I really let all these people, some of them my friends, one of them Max, walk through the desert—the most dangerous place on the planet—because I was scared to show them my power?
Was my life—being free and not hooked up to a machine—really worth the lives of all these people? People who’d become my friends, almost like my… family?
Mad Murray’s voice called up from below deck, “We’re about to lose it!”
Max went pale, but he yelled orders out, getting everyone moving and prepared to land.
And Viper was still just standing there. What the hell was he doing?
Scowling and getting pissed about the situation wasn’t going to help anyone. What a jerk. He’d done nothing at all to help during the entire storm, and now, he was still just going to stand there?
I went back to helping Greybeard, carefully following each and every direction he gave me.
The ship started losing altitude, bouncing and swaying in a way that made me lose my balance more than once. I could tell Ariella was trying to slow our descent by using the wind while Max was trying to help with the sails.
Both worked, but only a little.
As we lost more and more altitude, he had the aeronauts tuck the ship’s wings in, probably to prevent more damage to them.
The turbulence made the ship shake uncontrollably as we fell farther and farther down. The tan sand was coming closer and closer to us.
We were crashing, I realized, but slowly.
It made it more terrifying, like I was watching my death in slow motion.
And then I felt the moment the last engine fluxstone completely ran out of power. It practically screamed for me, and I closed my eyes against the pain in my chest.
Even if I wanted to go to it right now, even if I wanted to reveal my magic, there was no way I’d make it to the engine room before we hit the ground.
My stomach bottomed out as my vision filled with nothing but yellow sand.
The ship’s bow turned down at a terrifying angle, and all I could do was hold on so I didn’t fly off. Willy was nearby, and when his gaze met mine, I could see his fear. It matched my own.
“brACE FOR IMPACT!” Max screamed as he held onto the wheel and steered the ship as best he could toward a heap of rocks. I assumed he was hoping they’d help keep us upright since the bottom of our ship was far from flat.
I held on tight, praying that Max was holding on too, that Ariella was okay, that Willy would be alright. That Hawk-Eyes, Sparrow, Moonie, Mad Murray, and all the others would be safe.
The bow hit the sand first, and it jarred my entire body.
I hit the railing I was grasping with all my might, my breath knocked out of me, sharp pain shooting up my side, making it hard to breathe.
The hull hit the sand, and I was jerked away from the railing.
I scrambled to grab the rail, and my ribs throbbed as my hand caught it and jerked my body back.
As the ship slid through the sand, more pain spiked up my side, and for a few seconds, I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
A groan came from my right—Willy—and someone screamed near the bow.
The ship jerked again when it finally came to a stop. It was on a slight angle, but not too bad, all things considered.
Willy breathed out, “Holy phoenix tails, that hurt.”
The fact he was saying that made me want to laugh, although a bit hysterically.
That seemed to knock enough sense into my body, and I finally took a deep breath. Fire lanced through my ribs, and I gasped from the pain.
Holy mermaid fins, did I break a rib or something?
My next breath came easier, and I knew it wasn’t broken. It was at least bruised, though. Carefully, I stood, taking stock of the rest of my body while I looked over the people around me.
Willy was breathing heavily but seemed okay. Hawk-Eyes was groaning, but she gave me a small nod. Greybeard was lying on his back in a daze, but his chest was moving. Ariella was clinging to the rail on the quarterdeck. She was panting but seemed unharmed.
And Max. He was alive. He was okay, for the most part.
He had a big gash on his temple that was bleeding… kind of a lot. My heart lurched in my chest at the sight of his blood, but he was already standing and calling out orders to people, so I knew he was alright.
I’d have to inspect him thoroughly later… if we managed to get out of this.
I wanted so badly to rush over to him and pull him into my arms. I wanted to hold him and take care of him and make him feel better.
I wanted to ignore everything and everyone else and get my hands on him so I’d know he truly was okay.
But he wouldn’t want that, not on deck in front of the entire crew.
So I held myself back and settled for sending him a smile.
The relief in his eyes when his gaze met mine was obvious. He sent me a small smile back, staring at me for a few beats before he turned away to call out more orders. With reluctance, I tore my eyes away from him and searched out my friends.
“You okay?” I asked Willy.
He nodded. “Just a few bruises. Nothing I can’t handle. You?”
“Fine.”
The empty fluxstones sent out another wave of awareness. My ribs were already in bad shape, and that freaking hurt them more. My chest ached with the need to power the fluxstones. They were calling me, and I just… I didn’t know what to do.
Maybe I should talk to Max privately.
I could tell him, I knew I could.
Maybe we could figure out a way to power the fluxstones without making the crew—and especially the captain—aware of what I was.
Yeah… yeah, that could work.
Max would help me, and he’d keep my secret.
After unhooking my harness, I headed toward Max, but about halfway there, the ship started to vibrate.
It was hardly noticeable at first, just a rumble under my feet. But it slowly got worse and worse until the entire ship was shaking and moving so much, it was difficult to walk and everyone freaked-out, scrambling to grab onto something.
I held onto the railing at the bottom of the quarterdeck stairs to stop from falling over.
I heard someone muttering a prayer, another person crying, and someone else screaming in terror.
These pirates, these murderous criminals, were panicking.
I really, really didn’t want to meet whatever it was that was making the ship shake like this. Anything that could scare a stone-cold pirate was way too much for me.
“Tentacles, Ho!” Hawk-Eyes yelled.
My eyes widened.
Tentacles? Hawk-Eyes could see tentacles?